Five quarterbacks who could possible fill Ben Roethlisberger’s shoes for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger left the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ Week 3 matchup against the St. Louis Rams after taking a scary looking hit to his left knee while being sacked. He limped off of the field with the help of trainers and then was taken back to the locker room on the cart. He didn’t return to the game and many people are expecting the worst.
There’s no word on the extent of the injury just yet, but we do know that he’s undergoing MRIs and awaiting results. We also know that the moment of contact when the injury took place didn’t look good at all. Though it might be a melancholy notion, it might be time to start thinking about replacements for Big Ben for the rest of the 2015 season.
The most obvious answer, of course, is the man who replaced him for the rest of their Week 3 contest: Michael Vick. The 35-year-old veteran came in to throw the ball six times, completing five of those attempts for 38 yards. He also had two rushes for a loss of two yards. It’s pretty clear that Vick is far past his prime.
As Vick is past his prime, you have to wonder if he’s actually the best option for the Steelers if Roethlisberger is going to miss time. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take a bit of a risk on a player that could have more upside than the player that Vick is at this point? That doesn’t necessarily mean taking someone who’s a complete unknown and making him the starting quarterback of the Steelers; it could simply be giving someone who has shown promise in limited reps the chance in this weapon-filled Pittsburgh offense.
Perhaps it’s just me, but Vick seems like a super conservative option if that’s the way that the Steelers were to go in terms of Big Ben’s replacement. As we’ve seen before, conservative decision-making has a way of backfiring in a big way. It’s especially concerning to see a conservative decision on an offense that has the likes of Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell.
If I’m the Steelers, I’m looking outside of Vick for Roethlisberger’s replacement. Whether that’s at the bottom of another team’s depth chart, someone not currently on a roster, or something else, there are other options.
Before we look at the five best options, the elephant in the room that has to be addressed is Robert Griffin III. The Steelers are hardly financially flexible in terms of their salary cap situation. They don’t have the ability to take on a contract of that size without giving up another huge asset, which they won’t do for a replacement for Big Ben.
With that out of the way, here are five potential replacements for Roethlisberger:
(Note: All stats are via NFL.com)
Next: No. 5 Landry Jones